Wipro's foreign hires from US, Europe and South Africa undergo stint in India

First batch of 19 UK engineering students are already in Bangalore for a nine-month Wipro IT internship programme to gain hands-on industry experience.

SummaryWipro has embarked on a globalisation initiative to groom a new set of leaders overseas.

As the country’s IT-BPO services export industry is ramping up its presence in the US amid a protectionist stance, Wipro has embarked on a globalisation initiative to groom a new set of leaders overseas. Under its ‘Gateway of India’ programme, the Bangalore-based IT firm is making its foreign hires in the US, Europe and South Africa undergo a stint in India with an aim of expanding its global talent pool.

Wipro has already provided intensive training programmes to local hires and interns from countries such as South Africa and UK along with a three to six months training in India to familiarise with the company’s culture and work.

“Globalisation is not about physical presence in different countries. The idea is to build local leadership. We are going to hire locals and get these people come to India to understand Wipro and its culture and groom them to become future leaders in their respective countries,” Wipro senior VP (HR) Saurabh Govil told FE. Besides UK and South Africa, Wipro is now planning to extend this programme to other countries such as France, Germany and Nordics region.

In South Africa, Wipro recruited 30 local students from leading universities to undergo training programme for three months on various technologies of the industry. They have been deployed in various projects of Wipro in South Africa. Similarly, the first batch of 19 UK engineering students are in Bangalore for a nine-month information technology internship programme to gain hands-on industry experience.

These initiatives are expected to help foreign hires get a better understanding of India and its different cultures. Wipro has been involved with these initiatives to get connected with the local communities in foreign countries where they have their presence. In the US, Wipro and the University of Massachusetts Boston have jointly announced the launch of a 12-month fellowship program in the US to train 120 school teachers over three years, with the aim of fostering excellence in science education among students from disadvantaged areas of Boston and New York.

“We looked at how we can work with the communities there and make a difference. In the area of education we can help as we need more qualified people,” Govil said.

The US has undertaken the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiative to encourage more number of students to take up these streams. This also has been supported by Indian IT biggies such as Tata Consultancy Services.